Bridge 1

This is a bridge across a track where I often cycle. It is deep in the woods, and overgrown. There are quite a few of these bridges in the area, built in differenet architectural styles by an eccentric Victorian landowner. It seems he just liked to build bridges, although he pretended that they made logging easier. I like to think of him making bridges as a creative process, with his land forming a kind of journal.

http://tomssurreyhills.blogspot.com/

Leith Hill

A distant view of Leith Hill from 'my' bit of the Surrey Hills. There is a 'folly' tower overlooking the plain on the other side. I tried to do a careful study of this scene and it turned into pastel stew, then I dashed this off in a couple of minutes and I quite like it - more my style!

Summer trees v2

This is another version of my summer trees. To me this is a more interesting and evocative image but is it better art (if we think of art as an expression of a personal experience)? Discuss!!

Summer trees

I was trying to cpature the evening sun coming through the trees and the strong light and shade. Not sure if I succeeded at all but it was fun trying!

Pillbox

A WW2 pillbox on the North Downs. There are a row of these along the hillside, designed to hold any German advance had the invasion succeeded in 1940. Its hard to image they would have done much good!

Harlech Castle

Just back from a holiday in North Wales. This is a picture of Harlech Castle from the dunes. The catsle was one of a ring of castles built by the English to keep control over captured territory. It fell to the Welsh at least once, but many centuries later it seems a benign presence. The castle used to be next to the sea but now there is an area of sandy dunes, a good golf course (I'm told) and a large and beautiful beach.

Summer in England

Some images from an English summer. I have been trying to capture the heady mix of colours of the fresh new growth, dry straw, wild flowers and butterflies using my 'sketch, photograph and run (or cycle) away' technique. These are two more successful efforts.

Of course an English summer is not complete without cricket. Yesterday was a big day...we beat the Aussies at Lords (the 'home of cricket') for the first time since 1934. This was 5 days of elation, hope, dread, fear and then finally.... a fantastic feeling of well-being for us die-hard England supporters. I couldn't resist putting a page in my journal. Our hero, Fantastic Freddie (named after the Flintstone) and his nemesis, Ricky 'squishy-green-cap-head' Ponting (yes, I know...)